Dissident Voice

September
11, 2003

In
response to a request from Senator John Kerry, the U.S. Department of
Interior’s Inspector General has launched an investigation into whether the
Bush administration exerted political influence to provide more Klamath River
Basin water for farmers at the expense of fish and Indian tribes.

The
management of the river under the “Ten Year Plan” developed under Gale Norton,
Interior Secretary, has come under attack by Indian tribes and fishermen for
causing the deaths of over 34,000 salmon in the lower Klamath River in
September 2002.Diversions of Klamath
water to fields earlier in the year resulted in warm, low flows below Iron Gate
Dam last fall, leading to an unprecedented outbreak of disease and the largest
recorded fish kill in U.S. history.

“The
Bush administration has acted as if federal agencies like the Interior
Department are a division of the Republican National Committee and at their
disposal to give out political favors,” said Kerry. “The Klamath decision
should have been based on law and science and not a political operatives
agenda, polls and campaign priorities.”

Kerry
is the ranking minority member on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee that has jurisdiction over fishery issues. He also is a recently
declared presidential candidate.

The
requests were spurred by a Wall Street Journal article on July 30 that detailed
how Karl Rove, White House political advisor, engineered a change in water
policy favoring Klamath Basin farmers over fish to assist the re-election
campaign of U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR). Rove apparently began his efforts
with a presentation to Interior Department officials connecting regulatory
actions - including the Klamath issue - to Republican prospects in the coming
elections.

When
Norton opened the irrigation system head gates that increased the water supply
to Klamath Basin farmers in 2001, Senator Gordon Smith stood beside her for a
well orchestrated photo opportunity.

Mark
Pfeifle, DOI spokesman, defended the controversial decision by the National
Academy of Sciences - that resulted in lower flows below Iron Gate Dam for
salmon - as based on the “best available science.” He blasted the Kerry
Campaign for “partisan sniping.”

“We
are entering a campaign where people are more interested in partisan sniping
than making progress,” said Pfeifle. “The DOI is focused on providing water for
fish, tribes, fishermen and farmers. We have the resources to inspire both a
dynamic economy and a healthy ecosystem in the Klamath Basin. What has Kerry
ever done for people and fish in the Klamath Basin? While Kerry snipes, we
work."

Both
Kerry and the Yurok Tribe responded positively to the decision by the Inspector
General to investigate the charges.

“The
agreement by the Interior Department’s Inspector General to investigate this
matter to see if political pressure from the White House intimidated staff and
influenced policy is a positive development and the appropriate first step,”
said Kerry. “I anxiously await their decision.”

Troy
Fletcher, executive director of the Yurok Tribe, said he was “cautiously
optimistic” regarding the investigation. However, he said he hoped that the
investigation was not narrowly limited to issues around the Endangered Species
Act - coho salmon on the Klamath River and endangered suckers in the Klamath
Basin.

“We
hope that the Inspector General does an analysis of other issues, not just
endangered coho salmon,”Fletcher said.
“They also have a tribal trust responsibility here to protect all species for
the benefit of the Yuroks and everybody else. We can’t just ignore the king
salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, lamprey eel and other non-listed species.”

In
a letter to Kerry, Earl E. Devaney, Interior's Inspector General, said that it
will investigate:

1.
What would be the normal regulatory process in a matter such as this, assuming
that this was an Administrative Procedures Act governed regulatory matter.

2.
What actually happened in the administrative process in the Klamath Basin
matter.

3.
How the Klamath Basin matter deviated from the norm (if at all) with special
attention paid to “the science,” “any suppressed information,” and “any
evidence of political interference.”

Kerry
was joined in his request for the investigation by Congressman Mike Thompson
(D-California), whose North Coast district was impacted hardest by the fish
kill. Thompson is the author of legislation promoting salmon recovery on the
North Coast that passed through the House Resources Committee in June. The bill
would allocate $600 million over three years for salmon conservation and
habitat recovery projects in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The
bill is supported by a broad, bi-partisan coalition of organizations, including
the National Association of Homebuilders, the California Farm Bureau and
American Rivers. Even Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, a vocal
critic of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws, has praised
and supported the legislation. “This legislation is exactly what’s needed for
species recovery - it is targeted conservation and habitat restoration that
will recover salmon,” Pombo said.

In
a related development, fishing, conservation and government watch groups,
including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisheries Associations, filed a
request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for a copy of Rove’s
presentation made to federal fish and wildlife managers in January 2002, when
he advised them to make sure their agency decisions supported increased
Republican voter political polling numbers.

Hopefully,
the Inspector General’s probe will get to the bottom of the “Iron Gate
Scandal.” I applaud the Klamath River tribes, recreational anglers, commercial
fishermen, environmental groups and the offices of Senator Kerry and
Congressmen Thompson for applying the political pressure needed to prod the
investigation.

“The
probe will be a step in the right direction - if it proves to be a real
investigation and not a whitewash,” summed up Steve Evans, conservation
director of Friends of the River.

Daniel Bacher is an outdoor
writer/alternative journalist/satirical songwriter from Sacramento California.
He is also a long-time peace, social justice and environmental activist. Email:
danielbacher@hotmail.com